After almost an hour of climbing, Aria felt as though she couldn't take anymore. “Is...Is almost the top, yes?”
Trying to keep his handholds, Jack blinked sweat out of his eyes. “I'm not sure...I think I see something that looks like a ledge, but...” He paused, listening, his ears straining. “I think I hear running water.”
“Water? Good...” Aria's hand slipped, and she swiped her claws out, hurriedly clutching at a vine to steady herself. “Will need a bath...after all this...”
“Come on...If we're near the top, we can't stop for too long...My arms won't last.”
It took nearly twenty minutes more of hard climbing, but they finally came to the top. As Jack and Aria pulled themselves up and stood on flat ground, they found themselves surprised once more at what the uncharted planet had in store for them. Instead of just a simple rock ledge, they were standing on what appeared to be a wide, expansive mesa. In front of them, stretching as far as they could see, was a thick jungle of tall green shrubs, high purple ferns, and short feathery grasses of numerous colors. To their left, the mountain continued climbing up, forming a wall border for the jungle. To their right, perhaps five kilometers away, a second peak rose up, creating a valley in between the two.
“So many plants, so high up...,” Aria murmured, her breathing still heavy from the climb. “This planet...is strange...”
“Yeah...,” Jack agreed. “Full of surprises.”
Aria's ears perked up, her tail swishing back and forth eagerly. She could hear the sound of running water that Jack had heard earlier. “Come. I want to find the water.” She shook her canteen, which was nearly empty. “Thirsty after climb.”
Jack agreed wholeheartedly with this. Too, he was extremely tired and felt like they'd want to set up camp soon. There was still plenty of daylight left, but this day had been their most trying one yet, physically speaking. With Aria leading the way now, Jack followed. As they walked, the sound of water grew louder and louder. Before too long, the shrubs and ferns gave way to a clearing, and Aria gave a loud “Ooooh!” of delight.
Cascading down the rock wall very near to their left was a wide, rushing waterfall, feeding down into a large, shallow pool. The water was relatively clear, although there were white swirls throughout that Jack assumed were clouds of minerals carried down from the mountaintop. Sunlight illuminated the entire clearing, giving a shimmery, diamond-like appearance to the surface of the pond. Floating here and there on the water's surface were large, iridescent blue flowers with broad green leaf pads underneath, similar to water lilies. Jack thought he could see small fish swimming here and there in the water, but he wasn't sure.
“Thank gods...,” Aria sighed. She stretched her arms, gazing at the water with true desire on her face. “Have not had a bath in...since crashing. And I want these bandages off.”
“Don't get ahead of yourself,” Jack said. “Let's set up camp first, alright?”
Aria reluctantly agreed, and they got to work pitching their tent near the edge of the water. Jack dug a pit for a fire, though he wasn't sure he'd be able to find much wood. Trees had been few and far between so far at this high altitude, with the vast majority of plant life being vines and leafy shrubs. Then again, the vines up here were very thick and durable, and fallen chunks of them seemed to be plentiful. Perhaps they'd do in a pinch.
Once the campsite was established, Aria clapped her hands loudly. “Good enough, yes?” She turned her head in the direction of the water, looking at it longingly. Her tail and ears were twitching in anticipation.
Jack rolled his eyes. “Good enough, I guess. Go ahead and take a bath if you want.” He picked up his rifle, checking it over and jacking a round into the chamber. “In the meantime, I'm going to go have a look around and see if I can gather some fuel for the fire. And what you said earlier got me thinking about dinner. We're getting low on preserved food, so I figured I'd see if I could hunt down some meat. Maybe one of those birds we saw earlier in the day. We should take every chance we have to stretch out our supplies.”
Aria nodded her head approvingly. “Good. You thinking more like soldier every day.” She stretched her arms again, joints popping. “And good soldiers keep clean. So...” She turned around and headed for the water's edge.
“Enjoy yourself. I'll be back before long.” Jack turned as well, trekking off into the mountaintop jungle.
******
Once Jack was out of sight, Aria removed her belt and unzipped her flight suit, peeling it down her body and stepping out of it. She wrinkled her nose at the musty smell that wafted up.
“Kas'ne a reil...”
Her flight suit was fairly soaked with sweat and caked with dirt on the outside from the climbing. She shivered as she remembered having to scale that rock wall. She really was scared of heights, just as Jack had said.
Going to the water, she knelt down and dunked her clothes in it. After a few minutes of hard scrubbing, the garment was reasonably clean. Shaking it out, Aria carried it to a large, flat rock that was sitting in sunlight and laid it out flat to dry. Going back to the water's edge, Aria just stood there for a few minutes, breathing deep and letting the breeze blow over her bare fur. Unsheathing a claw from one finger, she starting tearing through her bandages, unwrapping them from the parts of her body where she'd been wounded. All of her wounds seemed to have healed, leaving no scars. She balled them up and pitched them into the fire pit, where they could be burned up later. Looking down at her body, Aria idly traced a finger along the lengthy scar down her front. A faint echo of the pain from that wound echoed through her. Nearly two years had passed since she'd gotten that injury, in her first battle...She'd been younger and less careful then.
Wasting no more time, Aria stepped down into the water. Instantly she sighed in pleased surprise. The water was heated by some natural trick. The Ailian walked deeper into the hot spring until she got to the deepest point, where the water came about to her waist. She waved her tail around in the water, sending ripples through the pool. With another long, purring sigh, she lowered herself, kneeling in the water so that it came up to her neck.
“Ah...Rek la a'lash ke ran...,”
Aria purred.
Her bath would have been much more effective if she'd had soap or something else to wash with, but the warm water was doing wonders for her mental health. Submerged in the water, she started scrubbing her hands all over her body, untangling her fur as the heat worked on her sore muscles. All the while she was washing, small, brightly colored fish flitted about underneath the water, seemingly undisturbed by this intruder in their home.
After perhaps an hour of enjoying the warm water, Aria was feeling totally relaxed, recovered from the long day. Standing back up, little rivulets of water dripping down her fur, she waded through the the pool to the waterfall. Standing by it, she stretched an arm out and put her hand into the deluge. The water falling down was slightly chilled, not warm like the pool itself. Taking a deep breath, Aria stepped into the waterfall, arching her back with her hands behind her head and letting the cool water refresh her.
******
When Jack came back to the camp, it was with a feeling of great success. Not only had he managed to gather a sizable bundle of fallen vines, but he'd also downed one of the flying creatures they'd seen. While not as big as the one that had flown close to them at the rock wall, it was still fat and would probably make a good meal, assuming it was edible. He hoped it would be, as he was getting tired of the preserved rations they'd been eating.
Walking into the clearing, Jack dumped his load of thick vines and set down the dead bird. He was about to set to work plucking and cleaning the animal when a splash from the water caught his attention. Looking over, he felt a tingle shoot up his spine.
Aria was standing in the waterfall, her face turned up to the cascade as she let the water flow over her. She was turned towards Jack, slightly to one side, but she hadn't seemed to notice him. Inadvertently she was giving him quite the eyeful. Jack had already seen her nude a few times before, of course, when he was tending her wounds and in the tent, but that had been in close quarters and he hadn't been bold enough, or interested enough, to look for more than a few seconds. But now the setting and her unguarded appearance was piquing his curiosity.
Even though he knew he shouldn't stare, for some reason Jack couldn't help it. Aria's tall form, covered in her pale shade of orange fur with black stripes, was strangely alluring. He'd never thought of Ailians in this way before he'd met her. She had a muscular body, though not beefy like a bodybuilder. As he watched, she rubbed her hands down her shoulders, down over her large breasts. Her cream-colored belly fur, like the rest of her, was slicked wet with water, plastering it to her, leaving absolutely nothing of her curvy form to his imagination. The only thing that marred her body was the long scar that snaked down from her collarbone, between her breasts, to her navel. And even that scar only seemed to accentuate the rest of her looks.
For the first time, Jack found himself realizing that he found her quite attractive, and that thought disturbed him. While he had come to sort of like Aria, it didn't seem right to be thinking of her in that way. She was of a different species, and there was quite the long history of that sort of thing being frowned upon in human society, to say the least.
Aria turned away from him, leaning over a little to wash the back of her neck in the waterfall. Jack was treated to the sight of a firm, toned rear, tail waving serenely in the foamy spray of the turbulence created by the falling liquid. The cream fur of her front appeared to continue between her legs, creating a vague heart shape on her rump around her tail. Jack's face warmed as he stared, and the unbidden thought rose to the front of his mind:
If only that tail would move just an inch or so to one side...
Suddenly, Aria's ears twitched, and she straightened up, looking over her shoulder. Her eyes locked with Jack's, and they just gazed at each other for a few moments. After about a minute, Aria stepped out of the waterfall, brushing droplets from her brow, striding through the pool towards Jack. He was rooted to the spot, unable to look away as the tall feline got closer.
“You staring,” Aria said simply when she got to the water's edge.
“Uh...,” Jack stammered, finally looking away from her naked body. His mind was confused, and he tried to think of something to say. All he could manage was a mumbled “Sorry.”
“You see something you like?” she asked, matter-of-factly. Jack said nothing in reply, and Aria was quiet for a while, water dripping from her fur and rippling the water. Then, without saying a word, Aria shrugged and stepped up out of the water, walking over to where she'd laid her flight suit. By now it was completely dry. Setting the garment carefully flat on the ground, Aria stretched out on the rock in its place to dry herself.
Relieved that Aria hadn't blown up in his face, Jack sighed, shaking his head to banish his blush. Studiously avoiding looking her sunning on the rock, he set himself to the task of preparing his kill for their dinner.
******
As Jack and Aria ate their meal, the conversation contained no reference to their earlier encounter. As luck would have it, the large bird creatures of this planet were
very
edible, and several hours of roasting over the fire had rendered the meat tender and delicious. There was plenty to eat, though Aria ate about three times as much as Jack did. When dinner was over and had been cleared away, Aria excused herself into the tent.
Jack wasn't quite ready for bed, though by now it was dark. He had been thinking about the pool during the meal, and he had to admit to himself that he could also use a bath. After making sure that Aria had zipped up the tent entrance, he took his clothes off and stepped into the water. Instantly the warmth went to work on his tired body, heating his bare skin and enveloping him in a therapeutic feeling. The minerals in the water gave it an invigorating effect.
Jack stood up in the water, which came up to his chest, and splashed it over himself. The built-up sweat and dirt from the day's climb slowly washed away, and he felt a lot better. The night sky twinkled with stars overhead, lending a peaceful atmosphere to his bath as the firelight threw shadows around the rock wall bordering the pool.
The quiet feeling of seclusion was what made Jack jump twice as high when he turned in the water and spotted Aria sitting cross-legged on the bank. Though his waist was already below the water level, Jack sank lower, his face turning bright red.
“Aria?” he gasped. “Wh-What the hell are you doing?”
“Getting even,” she said simply, her tail wagging behind her. The Ailian seemed almost playful with the tone of her voice. “You stare at me while I bathe, so I do same. Is fair, yes?”
Jack couldn't think of a protest for that one. He certainly had been ogling her earlier, no doubt about that. He stayed hunkered down anyway, not intending to give her the eyeful she had given him. “You snuck up on me.”
“I did.” Aria tilted her head to one side. “Why you embarrassed? You just taking bath, yes? Is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“It's not...That's not the...,” Jack stuttered. He rose slightly in the water, eying her carefully. “I just don't like the idea of being watched.”